


Beautiful Words

by planetinternet



Category: Harry Potter - Fandom, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Fluff, Hogwarts, Hogwarts Eighth Year, M/M, Voice Kink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-20
Updated: 2017-09-20
Packaged: 2018-12-31 21:42:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12141747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/planetinternet/pseuds/planetinternet
Summary: It's Harry's eighth year at Hogwarts and as usual he finds himself obsessed with Draco Malfoy. However, this year he finds his reactions to be more disconcerting rather than enjoyable.





	Beautiful Words

_"Potter, just because you think your fame is sempiternal, it does not mean that you can beleaguer the rest of us."_

Hours later Malfoy's words still echoed in Harry's mind, not that he had any idea what the blonde ponce had said, which just irked him further. He subconsciously growled at the ceiling, as he lay on the sofa in the Gryffindor common room. "Why does he have to talk like that?" Harry grumbled aloud.  
"Who?" Hermione asked, cutting through Harry's circling thought process. He blinked rapidly and quickly turned to see the worry on his friends' faces, he hadn't meant to say that out loud.  
"Oh.. no-one." Harry replied nonchalantly, hoping that it would lead to the end of the conversation. But as he was friends with Hermione Granger, it would be closely followed by an interrogation. Hermione raised an expectant eyebrow at Harry to indicate that he could not evade the topic that easily. "Malfoy." Harry muttered dejectedly.  
"Again?" She asked with concern. "You're not thinking about the fight you had this morning are you?"  
Harry made an indignant noise in response.  
"You didn't used to be like this after your fights." Hermione pointed out, rather unhelpfully in Harry's opinion.  
"Well, maybe that's because he's generated some fancy language over the summer. Who the fuck knows so many words anyway?" Harry complained loudly.  
"Proud Malfoy ponces know fancy words, that's who." Ron agreed, he bore the same expression as Harry and wrinkled his nose.  
"You do know that this what he wants." Said Hermione. "He knows that your vocabulary isn't as extensive as his, so he's using it to his advantage."

"What a prat." Harry and Ron mumbled simultaneously, which caused Hermione to just shake her head at them.  
"What did he even say earlier 'Mione?" Harry asked after a moment of silence.  
"Along the lines of just because you'll always be famous, it doesn't mean that you can lord over people." She explained.  
"Lord over people? Lord over people!" Harry exclaimed. "If anyone does that it's him!"  
Hermione put her hands up in defence. "Don't shoot the messenger, you asked what he said."  
"He's still a git though." Ron offered in his girlfriend's defence.  
"Yeah he is." Harry mumbled into the sofa.

Harry's frustration only grew over the coming weeks, Malfoy's extensive language annoyed him in ways that he hadn't thought possible. Whenever the two had fought previously, Harry had not dwelled on what had happened and moved on with his life. But the way that Malfoy's smooth voice flowed over each vowel, every syllable, made Harry's insides turn in a way that they hadn't before. He had not brought up the situation again, as his friends were watching him with worry whilst Harry dueled with his inner turmoil. The way that Malfoy spoke kept him up at night, not in a menacing way, not anymore, Harry had gone past that, it was now a sound of comfort that lulled him into sleep, much to Harry's growing concern.

————————————————

One evening, Harry was making his way back to the Gryffindor dormitories after a late quidditch practice, when he heard a familiar call of 'Potter!' from behind him. He groaned internally and turned around to face the usual, pale, (good-looking) perpetrator.  
"What do you want now, Malfoy?"  
"Me?" Malfoy asked innocently as he indicated to himself as though he was in shock. "I was just speculating on what phenomenon could have the distinguished Harry Potter gamboling around the corridors in such an uncouth manner." There it was again, that feeling, that sickness in the pit of Harry's stomach, it rendered him speechless, as he stared at Malfoy. "Speechless, Potter?." Malfoy drawled as he took a few paces towards where Harry stood, rooted to the floor. "But, of course, I would not expect plebeians such as yourself to understand the more intricate workings of the English language." Still Harry made no sound, which resulted in a fleeting moment where their eyes connected. "Or, is it something more evocative?" A small smirk appeared on Malfoy's face, one that worried Harry, as it meant that the cogs in Malfoy's mind were whirring and he was coming up with a plan, one that was devious no doubt. Harry still did not move as Malfoy closed the space that was between them, leaving only a couple of inches between the two boys. Malfoy's soft breath brushed against Harry's face, leaving goosebumps on his cheeks and a growing pain amounting in his groin. However, Harry payed this new development no mind as his mind began to spin, so that he lost all sense of thought and his remaining dignity. Harry felt his erection growing in what was a more obvious manner, as Malfoy's smirk grew. "My surmise has been confirmed." Malfoy murmured aloud as Harry let out a small groan, now not even he could deny that the way that Malfoy spoke was very appealing. Malfoy's fingers lightly drifted over the bulge in Harry's trousers, which caused Harry's breath to hitch in surprise. The two boys stood with their eyes locked, neither one moving, yet daring the other to try something. Swiftly, Malfoy span them round and backed Harry against a wall, who lent against it willingly as his knees gave in. Eyes still locked, Malfoy began to close the gap between them and Harry's eyelids fluttered slightly. The moment before contact was made, Malfoy stopped and breathed almost inaudibly a hot breath against Harry's lips. "Quite the predicament you're in, Potter." Malfoy smirked, pushed himself off Harry and left, leaving the other boy frozen to the spot, pupils dilated and very aroused.  
"Oh Merlin." Harry groaned when he was able to gain a cohesive thought. He had just gotten himself into a dangerous situation, where Draco Malfoy was in full control.

Upon returning to his house, Harry had not realised how late it had become and was bombarded with questions as soon as he climbed through the portrait hole. Ron and Hermione were concerned about his whereabouts, whereas the rest of his roommates were more interested in what 'lucky lass had got him all hot and bothered' (or lad as Seamus offered). Now that his sense of self respect had returned, Harry felt rather embarrassed about the whole situation and the severity of what Malfoy had on him hung over his head. "It was.. er.. nothing?" Harry answered weakly, which did not convince any of his friends and only intrigued them further.  
"It must be a secret lover." Seamus whispered obnoxiously with the intention of Harry hearing.  
"Ah, young love." Said Dean dreamily, he and Seamus sighed in unison.  
"You're the same age as me!" Harry exclaimed exasperatedly. "And no one said anything about love."  
"I don't think they've reached that stage yet." Seamus whispered loudly to Dean again.

"He's obviously still in denial." Dean replied and the two boys sighed again.  
"I am not in love with Malfoy!" The words had slipped, or rather, exploded out of his mouth before he could stop them, the group went into a stunned silence, the smug grins wiped cleanly from Dean and Seamus' faces. Harry felt his face grow hot, the back of his neck began to sweat and his mind was unable to form any kind of response. Instead, he stood in silence as he watched his friends gaping like fish out of water.  
"M-Malfoy?" Ron was the first to speak, the single word stuttered out of his mouth, barely above a whisper.  
"It wasn't like that, well, it was, I don't know what happened." Harry admitted, he still had no idea what had happened, or why, and he certainly was not looking forward to what would happen next.  
"What do you mean, you don't know what happened?" Hermione asked carefully, she was looking at Harry warily, worried that he might explode at them.  
"It means, I don't know what happened, one moment we were arguing, then he said something with those stupid fancy words of his and I just froze." Harry took a deep breath and continued on. "Next thing I know, he's about an inch away from my face, nearly kissed me and then sauntered away like he'd just discovered the secret to the universe. I don't know what happened and I don't know why, but whatever it was can't be good, so could you all keep this quiet?" Harry asked his friends, who all nodded complacently. Dean, Seamus and Neville patted Harry's shoulder, bid him good night and headed up to their dormitory in a rare state for the Gryffindor house, silence. When they left, Harry collapsed into the nearest sofa and let out a frustrated groan. "What the fuck does he want?"  
Hermione sat down next to him, put her hand on his back reassuringly and said. "I don't know, Harry, I don't know."

The next day, Harry could feel the smug, grey eyes of Malfoy following him constantly and whenever Harry caught him looking, he just raised one blonde eyebrow, and smirked. Harry would scowl at the blonde and then return to whatever task was participating in, whilst he was still being watched from afar. Harry wished that he knew what Malfoy's plan was, the tormenting he was used to, but this was completely different, Malfoy was putting himself on the line too, it wasn't as though his father would approve of his actions. It was quite possibly dangerous, Harry knew how much Malfoy Senior hated him, but he wouldn't go as far as to risk his family bloodline. This left the question of why Malfoy would want to do something like this and what would he get out of it. The war was over, so he couldn't hand Harry over to Voldemort, the press would thing that Harry was bewitched if they caught wind of this, Harry shuddered just thinking about the idea of Rita Skeeter finding out. Yet Harry could not think of any motive for Malfoy to do this, which made the situation even more worrying. Maybe he should talk to Hermione, she normally has a better insight with things like this.

________________________

It was hard to find time to talk to Hermione between quidditch practice, classes, her dates with Ron and of course her relentless studying for their N.E.W.Ts. When they were both finally free, Harry sat with her in a quiet corner of the common room, whilst Ron played chess against some fifth years. His heart was beating loudly in his chest and the blood pounded in his ears as he tried start the conversation. Hermione was very concerned about what would have Harry so worked up and why he was struggling to talk about it. She waited patiently for him to calm down, take some deep breaths and start talking. "Hermione." Harry began. "I think Malfoy's stalking me."  
Hermione looked at Harry incredulously. "What?" She asked in confusion. "Stalking you?"  
Harry nodded slowly. "Yeah.. Ever since that encounter, I've not been able to shake the feeling that someone is watching me. I'm not paranoid. I've caught him staring, and when I do, all he does is smirk."  
Hermione was bewildered, this was not what she was expecting when Harry asked to talk to her, well she wasn't surprised that it was about Malfoy, but stalking him, that seemed a bit out there, even for Harry. "Are you sure it's not just a coincidence? You go to the same school."  
"This is no coincidence Hermione. He's following me, to antagonise me? Because he thinks that he has the upper hand? Why hasn't he done anything? Why would he do this in the first place?" Harry clenched his fists and pounded them into the sofa in frustration, his frustration was making Hermione grow more concerned by the minute.  
"Maybe there is no ulterior motive." She said simply.  
"What do you mean? It's Malfoy, of course he's planning something." Harry snapped, he could not understand why she was so calm about everything nor did he understand why she was even considering his side. "Why are you even defending him?"  
"I'm not defending him, Harry." Hermione sighed. "Everyone deserves a second chance, even gits like Malfoy, and besides I think he likes you."  
"What?" Harry exploded loudly, though as the Gryffindor common room was naturally loud no one paid him any attention as his voice was lost to the crowds.  
"It makes sense, and it would explain a lot." Hermione said in her matter-of-fact voice.  
"What would that be then?" Harry furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, clearly not following Hermione's train of thought.  
"Think about it, he's teased you for years, always knowing everything about you, what makes you tick, where you'll be, how to get inside your head. He might have been your school rival Harry, but its not normal to know that much about someone you hate. Not even you would be able to know that much about Malfoy, and you stalked him for all of sixth year." Hermione put her hand up to stop Harry from interrupting, he closed his mouth abruptly. "Then think about what happened at Malfoy Manor, he said that he wasn't sure if it was you or not, but someone who had studied you that closely would surely be able to see through a simple stinging jinx. He then didn't put up much of a fight when we escaped and gave up our wands rather easily. He then refuse to kill you in the Room of Requirement even though he was being told to by his friends, he didn't even attack you. Nothing he did ever really put you in danger, he teased you, hell he even bullied you, but who's to say that it was because he couldn't or didn't want to accept how he felt. His father would never approve of the only Malfoy heir being gay, now that his father us in Azkaban he can do what he likes, maybe he knows how he feels but is still too afraid to go after what he wants after so many years of denial. If he was going to say something, he would have said it by now, he would be parading it to the entire world, but he hasn't. Instead he's tempting you into making the next move because then he will know if you want the same thing." Hermione exhaled deeply after she finished her speech and looked at Harry warily, as though he might explode at any second. But Harry did not know how to respond to what he had just been told, it seemed so impossible to even entertain the idea that Malfoy liked him, yet everything just seemed to fit, as though all the puzzle pieces were finally coming together and he was seeing everything for the first time.  
Harry took a deep breath. "As much as I never thought I'd say this about him, I think you're right Hermione, it is the only thing that makes sense. I went over every idea I could think of and none of them even came close to this."  
Hermione sighed in relief and the tension was lifted from her chest. "So, what are you going to do about it?" She asked.  
"Right now, I need to think, because I still don't know how I feel." Harry took a deep breath before he carried on. "I didn't say this before because I scared, but, I was aroused that night Hermione. I don't know how, or why. But in some way, I think I'm attracted to him too, I just don't know what to do with that."  
Hermione smiled at him widely. "I'm glad you finally realised that, anyone could have seen that you were aroused that night Harry, even Ron did and we all know what he's like when it comes to these situations. As for what you should do, that's up to you, but do what makes you happy, do what you want to, because now everything is over you have a chance to live, be free Harry. I will support whatever that decision is, even if it does involve a certain blonde Slytherin."  
"Thanks Hermione." Harry smiled back at   
her and hugged her tightly for a moment. "I'll think about it, I just need some time to process.'"I understand, and don't forget to talk to Ron, he's your best friend too and he'll support you too, he has from day one." Hermione gazed over to her boyfriend dreamily, a content expression on her face. "Remember Harry, always follow your heart, its usually right, even when you doubt it, Merlin knows that mine was."

____________________

The more Harry noticed Malfoy, the more he realized that he wasn't the prick that he tried to be. Ever since their incident they had not spoken a single word to each other, the other boy no longer antagonised Harry, he kept quiet and observed from afar. Harry found himself missing their encounters, he began to understand why Malfoy had done what he did for all those years because now, Harry found himself wanting to do the same thing. He craved attention from the blonde, he yearned to see the boy riled up because of him, he wanted to get under his skin, to see a reaction that only he could provide. Yet he was never unnoticed, Malfoy was always there, just watching, never interfering or jeering, just watching. Hermione was right, if Harry wanted things to change, it would be up to him to make the next move and it would have to be the right one, otherwise Malfoy would never believe him. It was at this point that he needed to talk to Ron, as Harry was worried that at any moment he would lose all self control and snog Malfoy right in the middle of the Great Hall, and what a spectacle that would be. Harry could already imagine the headlines, that wasn't what he wanted, people would find out one day, but not like that.

Harry and Ron were alone in their dorm when Harry decided that it was time for the talk, that he couldn't hold back any longer. "Ro-on." Harry said in a strained voice.  
"What's up mate?" Ron immediately looked concerned and turned to look at Harry.  
"I have a crush on Malfoy." Harry blurted out, after admitting it, it was as though a giant weight had been lifted off his shoulders, he wished he had said so long ago.  
"So you finally realised then?" Chuckled Ron, as he sat down on the bed next to Harry.  
"What?" Harry asked in confusion, Hermione had had the same reaction.  
"It was pretty obvious, mate. You've been pining after him for years." Ron laughed and thumped Harry on the back.  
"I haven't been pining after him!" Harry insisted, but that just made Ron's grin grow. "Is that what everyone thought?"  
"Most of Gryffindor did." Ron answered.  
"That would explain why I never got asked out," Harry said moodily. "They all thought I was gay and had a thing for Malfoy."  
"But they were right." Ron said in confusion.  
"Maybe about the latter, but I'm not gay, because I like girls too." Said Harry.  
"So you're bi then?" Ron asked.  
"I guess so." Nodded Harry. That word seemed to fit him just fine.  
"Ginny will be pissed that you're not gay." Laughed Ron.  
"I thought we never got back together because the war had changed us too much and we weren't in the right state of mind for a relationship?" Harry furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.  
When Ron realized what he had said, his face turned the same color as his hair. "Actually.." He said slowly. "It's because she thought you were gay, so she thought this was the perfect opportunity for you to discover yourself."  
Harry just sighed in disbelief, he couldn't even bring himself to be angry. "Everyone really did think I was gay."  
"Tough luck mate." Ron said sympathetically and he patted Harry on the shoulder, stood up and left Harry to his confused thoughts.

____________________

It was unexpected when Harry made the next move, he hadn't even realized what was happening. Malfoy was stood at the edge of the Black Lake, wrapped snugly in a winter cloak, a thick green scarf, a pair of gloves and a wooly hat. Harry had been walking with Ron and Hermione at the time and had noticed the boy from the path. In that moment Harry noticed how beautiful Draco Malfoy was, how the tips of his white-blonde hair poked out from under the hat, how the redness of his cold skin stood out from the porcelain, how his icy grey eyes were always lost deeply in thought as they gazed over the dark water, He had been unable to stop himself when he bid farewell to his friends, went over to Malfoy and stood next to him. The grey eyes of the other boy watched him carefully from their corners, a content smile playing at his lips. Harry took a deep breath before he went through with why he had joined Malfoy. "Mal- Draco." Harry started and waited for the other boy to face him.  
"Yes Harry?" Draco said softly, unintentionally fluttering his eyelashes as he turned around.  
But Harry said no more, instead he shyly leant forwards and hesitantly placed his lips to Draco's, which sighted a gasp from the other. Harry felt Draco's hands as they slipped around his waist, they pulled him in closer, so that they were pressed against one another. They kissed slowly, making hesitant touches, both scared of doing something wrong or taking it too far. Their noses brushed against each other gently and they both slowly opened their eyes. Grey locked with green and smiles radiated from both parties. "Hi." Smiled Harry gently.  
"Hi." Draco replied and brushed his nose against Harry's once more. "I'm jubilant to see that you've finally comprehended what you desired."  
"Me too." Harry sighed as he leant his forehead against Draco's, he had no idea what had just been said but it felt wonderful.  
Draco laughed softly. "You don't have an inkling of what my former speech recalled."  
"Mmm-hmm." Hummed Harry contently, still soaking in the words.  
"Just as I suspected." Draco chuckled again. "You're adorable." He whispered softly.  
Harry smiled and looked into the boy's eyes. "And you're beautiful, both you and all your beautiful words." 

 


End file.
